Arc I: Chapter Three

Out of Nowhere

Peorth's weak smile faded as the line to Keiichi disconnected. The dark haired Goddess had called hoping to discover what had happened on Earth to cause such a massive system malfunction. The plan hadn't worked quite as well as she had hoped.

Seated in a commanding chair that seemed to float in place, she looked at the pandemonium surrounding her. Goddesses chattering furiously, zooming across Yggdrasil's control center as everyone tried to get a handle on the situation. It was going to be a very long time before anyone would rest.

Now's not the time to be thinking about that. Chiding herself for her lack of focus, she concentrated on her work. Wondering what useful information she could glean from the mortal's words, she mulled over Keiichi's narrative. She didn't know what these voices that he spoke of were, but she was certain that they were of a spiritual nature. She had more than enough reason to believe that they were part of the force that almost knocked Yggdrasil offline.

"Chrono." Peorth leaned forward in her chair.

"Yes, Ma'am?" came the response.

"Before we reboot the Earth side and satellite monitoring programs, reconfigure with one fourth the normal sensitivity," she instructed, "If whatever it was that knocked them out in the first place is still there, we'll reduce the input so it can't overload them again."

"I'm on it," the younger Goddess replied promptly.

"Ere, I want you to get the system sensors for Earth back as soon as you can."

"That sector is thirty nine percent restored, estimate fourteen minutes to surveillance restart," another voice stated.

"Ex, as soon as you get the necessary data, prepare to open a gate to these coordinates," Peorth spoke as she input a series of numbers into a holographic pad on her command console.

Yet another Goddess began her calculations as she responded, "Roger. If sensor restart occurs at estimated time, we will have a gate ready approximately twenty six minutes from now."

Peorth deeply inhaled through her nose as she rested against the back of her chair. She allowed a brief, proud smile at her three subordinates. They were working furiously as their eyes darted from one holographic display to the next. Nothing much for me to do now except stay out of their way.

She stared at the various diagnostic screens that floated in midair in the center of the operations room, but her eyes weren't focused on them for very long. We won't know anything until the sensors are restored. I have to wait.

As Peorth began to rub her tired eyes, her mind wandered to the beginning of the ordeal. Thinking back only a matter of minutes before, she wondered how things could have gone so wrong so quickly.

She had been fighting the urge to sleep, her head lolling about. The Goddess had been startled more than once by her skull bouncing off the back of her command chair. Nothing at all had happened, just an easy, trouble free day.

The smooth operations, with not a single bug to be found in the Yggdrasil system, delighted her three young subordinates Ere, Ex, and Chrono. Having long since finished their work for the day, they sat at the three stations that made up the central access console and gossiped like mad.

The bridge bunnies, as they were sometimes called, weren't the only ones with time on their hands. Their giggles and whispers sounded much the same as those coming from the rest of the Goddesses in the room.

The huge chamber was much taller than it was wide. There were many levels, floating platforms, and access consoles that were scattered across the floor and toward the ceiling. In the center was a column of light that seemed to swirl with purples, greens, and blues more like it was liquid than anything else. The translucent cylinder stretched from floor to ceiling, and served as a large screen where layers and layers of data would be displayed in three dimensions.

Around the base sat the three young Bridge Bunnies, and slightly away and above them, with a view of everything they did, was the chair of the System Watch Commander, or SWC. Sitting in that very chair was a painfully bored Peorth.

The SWC acted as a sort of captain of the bridge, in charge of Yggdrasil's daily operations, maintenance, program updates, debugging, and in general ensuring that the system was able to run at peak performance. It was, after all, the driving force behind all of reality.

Normally it was a fast-paced workplace that kept a Goddess on her toes at all times, but once in a while a slow day came along, a time where everything worked just fine with no help from the Goddesses who worked to keep it all going. Everyone at Yggdrasil loved days like this. Everyone except the SWC that is.

Peorth miserably checked the clock, and found that only three minutes had passed since her last time check. She sighed as a pained look took over her features. Thirty four minutes left? Almighty, when will this awful day be over?

"My, my Peorth," an amused giggle arose from behind the command chair, "You look so bored, are you really that ready for your shift to be over?"

It took only a fraction of a second for Peorth to recognize the voice as the one she had been waiting for seven and a half hours to hear. With sparkling eyes and a dazzling smile, she spun around and leapt over the chair to embrace her savior. "Ceres!" she crooned, "I don't think I've ever been so happy to see you! It seemed like this watch would never end, but you've finally come to save me."

Ceres was a first class Goddess who had moved quickly up the chain of command at Yggdrasil, just like Peorth. The two did not, however, share the same taste in clothes. While Peorth wore racy outfits that left little to the imagination, Ceres was almost the opposite. She wore extremely conservative robes, with several elaborate layers of purple, green, and gold. Her chestnut hair flowed down her back like a river, tied into two tails near the small of her back and ending behind her knees.

Still hugging her savior, Peorth began to wonder why she was getting no response from the other Goddess, who finally began to speak in a solemn voice, "Peorth, I'm not sure how to tell you this. I'm just here to see how things are going. There's still thirty one minutes until crew change."

Peorth fell back, her whole world seemed to darken as she felt a horrible sense of betrayal. Her mind was split between disbelief and a quiet anger that she was being abandoned to die. Yes, her boredom would surely kill her before the half hour was up, and her spirit would come back to haunt Ceres for all time. With her mind going in every direction, all she could manage to say was, "Oh, I see."

As Peorth turned to return to the SWC chair, Ceres couldn't take it anymore. Her smile shone with amusement as she leaned close to her depressive friend. "Well, I suppose I can't abandon you in your greatest time of need," she sniggered, "Get logged out and go home."

Faster than the eye could blink Peorth's previous joy had returned as she resumed her hug, all thoughts of betrayal disregarded. "Oh, thank you, Ceres! I knew you wouldn't condemn me to such a horrible fate. You're such a kind person, so wonderful, so cute! I just love you so much, my cute little girl!"

Ceres began to look a little flushed as Peorth moved in to rub their cheeks together. "You do remember that I'm two years older than you, right Peorth?"

Ignoring the current object of her affections, Peorth suddenly stood upright and pulled Ceres into an embrace. With her chin resting on the slightly elder Goddess's head, she sighed aloud. "Now, how to repay this kindness you've shown me?" She quietly pondered for a few moments while Ceres struggled comically to free herself from the embarrassing cuddle. With a sudden, dramatic movement, Peorth pointed at random and declared, "I have it! We'll go to Odin's pub after your shift. There's always a lot of cute Gods hanging out there in the afternoons."

Finally released from the clutches of Peorth, who was now laughing loudly and patting the deeply blushing Goddess on the back, Ceres began to object. "You don't have to do that," her voice was barely loud enough to make out.

"Oh, come on, Ceres," Peorth smiled, "It's okay to be shy about stuff like that, but come on. You've got to get out there and…"

The dark haired Goddess stopped mid-sentence as all the lights faded for a moment. The usual faint hum of Yggdrasil's systems seemed to falter, and then returned for only a moment before all hell broke loose.

The alert siren was followed almost immediately by Ere, trying hard to be heard over the blaring noise, "Lady Peorth! All the sensors for Earth just went off line! I can't pinpoint the cause."

In an instant all the playful banter between them was gone. As Ceres stood behind her, watching carefully, Peorth's features hardened into her command face. "Could it have been a nest of bugs that we missed before?"

Chrono called out, the sudden stress audible in her voice, "Impossible, Ma'am. It would have had to be several large groups all over the surveillance system to cause a program crash like this, and we definitely would have noticed that."

Ex yelled out over the alarm, "The catastrophic failure in Earth monitoring is causing malfunctions in related systems. It's spreading fast, attempting to isolate."

Peorth took only a moment to process the severity of the situation before them. "Our first priority is to keep this from getting into the operating system. We need to protect Yggdrasil's core from any damage." The commands came out smooth and professional, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that she was in charge. Inwardly she felt there was little to worry about, after all if anyone could get this problem under control, it was these three. "Ere, set up a level one barrier to isolate the core system and diagnostic programs. Ex, keep trying to slow the progression of the malfunctions. If you have to shut programs down to do so, then do it. Chrono, go back to the logs just before the incident occurred, try to figure out what the hell caused all this. And somebody turn off the damn alarm!"

"Roger!" the three replied as one, moving their hands from string to string on their consoles. The interface resembled a sort of harp-like instrument, with several ways to set the strings that allowed the operator a near limitless selection of commands. As the three young Goddesses' hands moved gracefully, the central display column began to fill with data. The girls flitted from one screen to the next almost faster than the eye could see.

When the blaring of the emergency siren ended, Peorth turned in her chair, "Ceres, I need you to do something for me."

"What is it?" came the gentle, yet somehow firm response. Ceres had been watching things unfold as intently as Peorth had, and likely was beginning to understand how serious this situation could be.

"If this wasn't caused by a bug, if it was something on Earth, then we'll need more than just the Goddesses here at Yggdrasil." She was inwardly hoping that this wasn't the case, but she knew it was a possibility that had to be addressed. "If it was strong enough to damage the system to this extent, well, you know what it could mean. They will need to know, just in case."

Ceres nodded, then cracked a slight smile, "I suppose the Goddess of Roses plans on going down there to investigate this personally?"

Allowing a tiny grin of her own, Peorth huffed. "Just as soon as you get back. Now hurry, I don't want you to be late relieving me."

"Don't let things get out of hand while I'm gone," she touched Peorth's shoulder briefly before becoming a blur, flashing across the cavernous room and out one of the doorways.

As she watched Ceres leave, she realized how busy the room had become. Almost twice the normal number of Goddesses buzzed this way and that, swarming all over the various consoles. It stuck Peorth how much it looked like a beehive.

"Lady Peorth," Chrono's voice sounded again, though not as loud since the alarm was gone, "there isn't any data in the records on what it was, all the sensors shorted out too quickly. However, judging from the sequence of outages it looks like the disturbance originated somewhere in the North West region of the Pacific Ocean. I can't be more exact than that until the sensors are back online."

"North West Pacific, you said?" Why didn't I think of this sooner? "Chrono, check the uplinks to Earth's phone system. Are they still functional?"

"Stand by." The Goddess moved her fingers gracefully across the strings of her console, almost constantly repositioning them as she went. "Our lines have been severed. I'm currently trying a patch through the Goddess Relief Office. Maybe their lines weren't too badly damaged."

"Let me know when you've got the connection," Peorth spoke quickly, "Ere, are you done with that barrier around the core?"

"Just finishing now, no damage to the core system or the diagnostic programs," she breathed, relieved that at least that part of the crisis was over.

Peorth gave her little time to rest, "Ere, begin work on restoring the Earth surveillance system. We won't know what's really going on down there until we get those sensors back."

"Roger."

"We have the phone patch ready," Chrono called out, "You will hear some static or other distortions, but it's the best I can do right now."

"As long as it works, I don't care. Thanks, Chrono," Peorth said as she began to dial in a number through her holographic command display, "Try and help Ere with those sensors."

"I'm on it," came her reply.

The line rang. I hope they know what's going on down there.

A noise came over the line, then the slightly panicked and static filled voice of a young man she knew, "Hello?"

"Keiichi? I need to speak with Urd or Belldandy right now!"

"Peorth? Thank goodness! Something is seriously wrong…"

"We have the sensors reconfigured for twenty five percent of optimal capacity," Chrono announced, quickly returning Peorth's wandering mind to the present.

"Good, now access my files and reduce my own spiritual sensitivity by the same amount," she instructed.

Chrono looked back at her commander for the first time since the beginning of the incident, "But, but Lady Peorth! Modifying a personal program isn't exactly, um, legal!"

"I'm entering my pass codes now," Peorth responded, "Whatever it is down there that is affecting our sensors is affecting Goddesses that are on Earth. If I reduce my sensitivity, maybe I'll be able to function normally down there."

"With all respects, Lady Peorth," Chrono's voice was filled with worry, "that is a very big if! You can't possibly intend to go down there with just a hunch that this modification will protect you. Not by yourself!"

"You needn't worry about Lady Peorth," came a confident male voice, "She will not be going by herself."

Gilgamesh wasn't sure whether he should be nervous or excited. He wore a set of grey armor, trimmed with blue, and a large, curved sword tucked into his belt. In a strange way, he looked similar to a samurai of old, carrying a nodachi. Looking around at the small group of similarly outfitted Templars that had gathered within the halls of Yggdrasil itself, he decided that he would just feel both and try to engrave this into his memory.

When he had been selected for this assignment to Earth, he had almost cried out with joy. He couldn't remember the last time Templars had been deployed anywhere, much less to the planet of the mortals. It was historical, even if nothing happened. Then again, no one knew what to expect.

Even though the twenty five of them had been standing in formation for over ten minutes, even though the gateway that would take them to Earth was beginning to form twenty feet to their right, no one had told them even a clue as to what their mission was, or what had caused all this chaos among the Goddesses at Yggdrasil.

He didn't have long to ponder, though, as everyone snapped to attention when the Commander of the Templar Armies strode into the stone walled room. Gilgamesh had only seen the God famed as the most powerful Templar once, and that was only for a few seconds. Still, it was impossible to mistake the black clothes, the silver shoulder guards, and the eight foot curved blade that was no thicker than Gil's own nodachi. He looked to be in his twenties (by human standards), but his long, snow white hair and emotionless expression made him look older.

The room had gone silent at his entrance. Gil couldn't even hear breathing. The only sounds were those of the two sets of footfalls. For a moment this didn't register with him, and then he realized that there was someone walking right behind the tall God. She was very pretty, he thought, with very long reddish-brown hair and a rather warm looking outfit. Gil wondered if she wasn't warm wearing so many layers.

"Templars," the Commander addressed them, "There has been an incident on Earth and we have been asked to investigate. There is little information on the nature of this occurrence, so we must be vigilant. Lady Ceres will brief you on what we know." Stepping aside, he motioned the Goddess forward. She looked a little uncomfortable, but when she spoke, her voice was unwavering.

"As the Commander said, we know very little about what is happening down there. We suspect there is something generating a massive amount of spiritual noise on Earth that is powerful enough to damage the system." She paused for a moment to let that sink in.

Something powerful enough to cause Yggdrasil itself to malfunction? He glanced sideways at Xander, who was looking back with a curious look that mirrored his own. Just what could do something like that?

Ceres continued, "We have three Goddesses on Earth right now that are near the suspected epicenter of this spiritual noise. All three have been incapacitated by it." This drew more surprised and worried looks than before. The fact that three Goddesses would be harmed somehow was bad enough to the all male Templars, but Gilgamesh could guess who the Goddesses were, and so could everyone else.

Belldandy had been quite well known in Heaven even before the infamous contract that sent her to be with that mortal. Everyone had heard about it at one time or another and only slightly fewer Celestials knew that her sisters had been granted permission to accompany her on Earth. It didn't take much to realize that the Goddess that so many loved as an idol of sorts had been hurt, and so had her family. Though none among the Templars actually knew the sisters, everyone felt that they did, and that made this all feel somehow personal.

"You will be gating to Earth near the temple that these Goddesses are living," she continued. "There is a human there who knows about us and will assist you however he can." This was met by muted chuckles. What help could a stupid mortal give anyway?

The chuckles were crushed as the Commander spoke again, "The human knows the area and is offering his home for us to use as a base of operations for the time being. He is to be treated as an advisor. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The stone walls of the room amplified their unified reply, apparently surprising the Goddess with the sudden volume of sound.

"As Lady Ceres noted, there is an inordinate amount of spiritual noise present on Earth. Be prepared for it."

"Yes, sir!"

Gilgamesh could hear a noise coming from his right, though he didn't want to look while he was standing at attention. He could feel the energy of the gate, and he guessed that it wouldn't be much longer before it opened.

"One last thing," the Commander said, looking less than pleased about this, "Lady Peorth will be following us to Earth when the next gate opens. She will be the liaison with Yggdrasil and will have control of the operations on Earth. You will obey her commands as if they were my own."

Gil blinked at that, and exchanged confused looks with Xander. Having a Goddess involved in a Templar chain of command was highly unusual. The young God thought that it had to do with the fact that the system had been affected so harshly, but wasn't really sure.

Ceres stepped forward again, a strange look in her eye. Clasping her hands together before her, she favored them all with a lovely smile. "Good luck, Templars. I will pray for your success and your good health. Please come home safely."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Their voices were even louder than before, and every man in the formation felt a smile on his lips. She bowed to them, then to the Commander before stepping back.

Gil felt a surge of power fill the room as a new sound came from the gate. "This is it, Templars," the Commander said, "Move out."

As one, the formation crisply turned to their right, lifted off the ground, flying toward the swirl of blue and white energy and the shimmering view of a temple beyond it.

Thanks to all of you reading out there, and double thanks to my two reviewers. It's always good to know that someone likes your work.

Next chapter should be out in a couple days. See you then,

Katamari Damacy